Ralph Lauren will be launching the Polo P-Win Boot inside Fortnite on the 3rd of August.
Polo P-Wing Boot is a physical shoe modeled into Metaverse after Ralph Lauren did very well selling a garment inside Fortnite last year. The release reveals how brands are experimenting with the metaverse through product testing, and how they are learning to connect both the physical world and digital world in different ways.
The clothing brand launched a collection of in-game outfits and products on Fortnite last year, which was a total of $20. For this launch, the Polo P-Wing Boot will sell for $250 with only 200 products being manufactured as revealed by David Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s chief innovation officer.
Lauren said “Our gut is that it will be available for just a few minutes, because it’s the kind of thing that will sell out. Our hope is that this will be something that will go quickly, if people are engaged with ‘Fortnite’ and engaged with the experience.”
As well as the Ralph Lauren boot sale, the brand will be opening a custom-branded “Fortnite” gaming experience called “Race to Greatness by Polo Ralph Lauren.” Gamers and those who have access to Fortnite will be able to experience fun destinations inspired by the Ralph Lauren runway shows and other intellectual properties, but the boot is the main focal point of the whole idea.
Beyond Creative, who are the company that designed the concept had a few words to say about the launch. CEO Kasper Weber said “We actually have it displayed in a really cool way. We want players to be amazed when they first see it, and to be able to actually walk around it and examine it and see all the details through ‘Fortnite.’ It’s located in what we’ve called the P-Wing Building. The shoe is in the middle of it, and you can walk around it and look through the glass.”
The boot itself is a representation of the brand’s virtual and physical options. Those who are on Fortnite will be able to wear the boot on their physical bodies as players, as well as wearing it inside the game built with Ralph Lauren in mind.
Brands have increasingly found opportunities with virtual in-game opportunities for product testing and experimenting. Forever 21 also had a collection in the “Roblox” metaverse – one item was purchased over 1.5 million times before the brand adjusted it for a physical release.
Sneakerheads have also had a chance to get access to products inside the metaverse with companies like Nike and Puma taking the lead in cutting-edge tech and ideas for their products. The Ralph Lauren Polo P-Wing Boot is another example of an iconic fashion brand expanding its footprint into the digital space.
Shoe brands in particular have leaned into the metaverse, with companies like Nike and Puma taking advantage of sneakerheads’ natural affinity for collectibles and cutting-edge tech to develop their own virtual commerce opportunities. The release of Ralph Lauren’s Polo P-Wing Boot is the latest example of an established fashion brand valuing the input and preferences of this new type of virtual consumer.
David Lauren said, “Ultimately, we want to do anything and everything that’s authentic to Fortnite, so it the consumers and users on Fortnite want to shop in Fortnite and make it available, that would be great.”
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